Hosting an ICDE event: Reflections from KNOU on planning and hosting the ICDE Leadership Summit 2022

A new era. A new year. A whole new concept of a hybrid event.

Korea National Open University (KNOU), co-host of ICDE Leadership Summit 2022, successfully concluded the Summit which was held on 20th and 21st January, 2022. This was the first time ever the Summit took place as a hybrid event.

As one of working-level staff members, I had mixed feelings when, through my laptop’s screen, I watched ICDE’s Secretary General Torunn Gjelsvik make her closing remarks on the final day. I felt happy, rewarded and a little regretful.

Planning the event

Organizing Committee meeting

Since the first meeting on 11 March 2021, KNOU and ICDE have worked together to prepare this Summit for almost a year. Through two committees (Organizing Committee and Program Committee), major pillars to all preparatory work, we prepared for the event step by step. Themes and their brief descriptions were finalized. Largely thanks to the Program Committee, we secured all the distinguished speakers. The event’s website was launched according to our plan. The program was set.

Having enumerated what we mainly have done, it sounds simple but it was never an easy task to do. Each step required a lot of effort, time and discussions.

Program Committee meeting

In particular, when we were in the middle of discussing the Summit program, Omicron, a new COVID-19 variant, suddenly broke out and spread fast in Korea and elsewhere. To ensure the Summit could still take place, we prepared for the event bearing the worst-case scenario where COVID-19 might worsen and governments might impose stricter lockdowns in mind, from early on. However, we were hoping to see things get better and host a face-to-face event with all participants on-site.

Adapting to a hybrid format

The Omicron outbreak was the very moment when we all realized that it’s time to decide on the format of the Summit. We agreed to run the event in a hybrid manner and went through discussions and consultations on how to make the event accessible to all delegates in different continents and how to ensure a more engaging and interactive event.

I felt like we truly were working on a new concept of a hybrid event which would be held in a new year, in this new and unprecedented era. It was our luck that we were working with great colleagues of ICDE and Callia Culture Management (Professional Conference Organiser - PCO). Together, we all did our very utmost to plan a solid foundation for a new hybrid event and make it happen.

The Summit

Working with ICDE colleagues for the Leadership Summit has expanded my perspectives on a hybrid conference. Before preparing for the Summit, my definition to a hybrid event was an event which is held on site and live-streamed. By adding “Playback of recorded sessions” to the program, we tried a broader and more inclusive hybrid event, allowing for virtual participation across different time zones.

Even though the Summit may not have been successful in every aspect, I’m proud to say that our event was meaningful in that it was the first of its kind as a hybrid ICDE event, and with a stellar lineup of speakers. It also served as a robust platform for in-depth discussions under timely and pertinent themes.

In conclusion, I’d like to thank all the invited speakers, members of the Organizing Committee and Program Committee and colleagues of Callia Culture Management for their tremendous support and contribution.

Contributed by:

Bo-In Lee
Program Specialist, Office of International Affairs
Korea National Open University